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Saturday, October 31, 2015

I have been meaning to write a series of reviews on musical movies. I have decided to take up this opportunity to start with a very particular one, in regards to the start of the holiday seasons: Halloween! The last review will be Christmas related, and that having been said, let us now dig in:

A young couple gets lost in the woods and end up in an old castle where they seek help, and instead find a mad scientist from outer-space who tries to create a new man by using components of living humans. Being drawn to what is happening inside the castle, they stay for the night and horror ensues... Very funny horror, that is, with great music.

I already started talking about this movie in my previous entry where I admitted my undying love towards Tim Curry (click here to read!), and I decided to write about this movie because it is celebrating a very unique anniversary: the 40th!
Besides the 'horror' part you might wonder why I decided to write about this movie now. Well, you might be right in saying that there is nothing Halloweenie about it... however, because of the 'horror' part my sister and I watched it the day before Halloween a couple of years ago. And I'll be honest with you, it wasn't my favorite after we saw it... the reason for that is I think I was too little. This movie is very deep and there are a lot of layers to it. When it comes to the comedic part, it hit all the right notes with me and I adored it. With the serious stuff instead, well... I should re-watch it. But what got me hooked was...

That's right, the music. You know you have famous songs from this movie and they are great, but my favorites are actually the ones that you don't hear over and over in every movie. Although I can't resist a singing Tim Curry, still, my favorite song must be "Hot Patottie Bless My Soul", followed by "Planet Schmanet Janet", which in musical versions actually is a lot longer than in the movie. Then "Dammit Janet" was love at first hearing :D and since then I have been listening to the soundtrack CD over and over again and slowly every song has become dear to me in a way or another. Still, I mostly enjoy the fun parts of the movie, so the actual 'rocky' songs are the ones that draw me closer to the story. Since then "Eddie" as well as "Toucha Toucha Touch Me" have become favorites of mine, but upon hearing the songs for the first time, I gotta say that I was super jealous of Tim Curry's body... I mean come on... he's the model I strive to be, I think he wears those heels more gracefully than any woman I know!

And the other element of the movie that made me fall for it were - of course - the actors. I knew these actors from the 90's, and well, this movie was not set then... have you ever had that experience? That you knew an actor and really liked them and then found out they were child actors as well, or simply had more movies before you discovered them in the role of a mom or a dad, or a grandparent? That happens to me often, and I always love it, because it is quite fun. It was the same here for me. Most adults do know Susan Sarandon as Janet, for me she's Mrs. March from Little Women; and they know Barry Bostwick as Brad, but for me he'll always be the stupid mayor from Spin City; and Tim Curry will always be Dr. Poole from Oscar to me, no matter what he does!

I think that overall this movie became such a success in the end because there is something in it for everyone. The shy ones, the sexually overheated ones, the artists and the mad scientists of our generation and other three generations before that all have someone to relate to.

The movie was a flop when it first appeared in the theatre and to be honest I wasn't surprised because America has a history of over looking musical movies... it's like they don't understand them... my favorite comment I always come across is "There were too many songs"... YOU'RE WATCHING A MUSICAL, for God's sake... but I talked about this in detail in my entry entitled "What The F*ck Is This Sh*t? Glee" (click here to read it!). However, to show what a cult following this movie has now I do recommend watching Glee! Why? Well, there is an episode in it where they are preparing to showcase the musical, but they switch the order of the songs. This shows you that for people who really know the source material this is a great homage and it is - in my humble opinion - very entertaining to use the same songs to tell a different story! (The Glee episode in question was in season 2, episode 5! Check it out!)

Having said all that, you should see the movie, trust me. And yes, being a cult classic, you are very lame to not have seen it yet! You'll want to dress or sing like Dr. Frank-N-Furter for a while, and that's OK. You'll laugh a lot and even if you won't like it at first, there will still be at least one song that will get stuck in your ears and that beat is gonna make you crazy - in a really good way!
It is unique, it has its magical moments and the 'horror' part is equally good as the 'rocky', so I just know you won't be disappointed!

Until the next item on my list!

PS: Have you heard? Los Angeles declared October 30th national Rocky Horror Day! Read about here!

Sunday, October 11, 2015

To be honest, before I fell in love with Sylvester Stallone, there is one other person who was very close to my heart because of a character he played in Oscar (1991), one who gave Mr Provolone his elocution lessons, one Dr Poole played by Tim Curry.

This man has played every single role available out there. From transvestite, to villain, to side-character, to headmaster, to pirate and receptionist. And I could go on and on. For a very long time I wondered based on what he chooses the characters he plays and I come to realize that perhaps he is one of those people who truly are happy to play any and all roles. He sure had high and lows, but there has not been a single movie where I wasn't happy to see him!

After the first movie where I fell for him, his next role that I came across was inMuppets Treasure Island, where he played Long John Silver. To be honest, I haven't seen his movies in a linear fashion, some would say, as the last movie I came across might actually be the one he is most well known for. However, before we get there, this one was a childhood favorite of mine too. I just didn't care he was the bad guy, I rooted for him! Yes, he deserved that gold, yes, he should be the captain! It might just be that coax that he already had, the one that got Jim to like him so much from the beginning. He had a charm that simply hugged me while watching it!

Then came the funniest movie I have grown up with, Loaded Weapon, where he played the right hand of William Shatner, Mr. Jigsaw. In my favorite scene he is dressed up as a girl scout who tries to sell cookies to Whoopi Goldberg. She jumps around and then steps on a cigarette butt, and that beard... it's perfect! I adore that movie and my sister and I recall that scene on a daily base!
Next movie he was a sassy concierge, in Home Alone 2, and then came the Charlie's Angels movie, which is up to today a big-big favorite of mine. And then I saw him as the most evil man in all of France, Cardinal Richelieu in The Three Musketeers.

I loved him in that role, as he really was a bad guy and when you watch the movie you can't help, but hate him. But it's a good kind of hate! Mostly, because you know he won't win in the end anyway, but it's fine because he truly is a horrible human being.
A couple of smaller roles followed and not so long ago I was introduced to one of the silliest roles he has ever played in his life, at least in my opinion... it was the headmaster of a witch school in The Worst Witch - which seems to have a far better rating than I thought it would. In this scene he is singing a song that has rhymes which were probably written by a seven year old, and the Nostalgia Critic and Nostalgia Chick made fun of it a couple of years ago. (For the review click here!) And I advise you to check out the song if you don't know it yet, because it is truly fantastic! Click here to see it! He also did a lot, and I mean A LOT of voice acting! Among my favorites is G. Gordon Godfrey in the series Young Justice, also Pretorious in The Mask, and the Cat King in The Cat Returns, finally a smaller but a favorite, a Hot Dog in the Regular show, just to mention a few.

I decided to leave the best - some would say - for last because it is one of the last things I saw. I was told I was too little to see it for a while, and to be honest I think I still was when I did see it. This movie is really deep and a lot of ground is covered, disguised in a musical about aliens.

You guessed it, I am of course talking about The Rocky Horror Picture Show. I just love musicals, and some of these songs have become a favorite of mine in a very short time. The way Curry plays this role? It's fantastic. Truly! Most little girls dream of becoming super models - not me! If I have to put on tights and a corset, then I want to look like Tim Curry! The movie is now 40 years old, which is really something and I am quite proud to say that I have seen it. It is a Halloween classic for me when it comes to the songs. I have been planning to re-watch it for a quite sometime now, because I think I have grown up since then, so maybe I'll be able to take in more. Still, when I hear Curry sing I just melt and because of that this movie quickly became a favorite of mine! I really do want to see it in the theater at least once in my life.

Curry has disappeared a bit from the public scene, I have heard that he is sick, which I am very sad about, but I have all of these awesome movies to keep me company and I am always happy to recognize his voice in various cartoons! He might not have roles that deserve an Academy Award, but if you ask me, you can grow tired of those movies pretty quickly! Making people laugh or sing along with you is a much-much harder job. And if I'm concerned he always succeeds, that is why he is a favorite of mine.Tim Curry truly was my first crush, and yeah, he stayed as such even as a transvestite! (Have you seen him? He's smoking hot!)

Thank you for all your hard work Mr Curry, with love, CsorEsz

Next up will be the Halloween Special for this year, and also the first of a series of musical movie reviews, starting with The Rocky Horror Picture Show! Stay tuned!